Second Westerner Claims Torture in Dubai

An American man says he was tortured in Dubai, one month after a British tourist was killed in prison.

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Maayana Miskin, 13/05/11 09:03 | updated: 15:51

Dubai

Israel news photo: Michael Warren / Wikimedia

A United States citizen has alleged that police in Dubai tortured him, just one month after a British tourist died in prison in Dubai, apparently due to a severe beating. The American man, 30-year-old Adam Foster, admitted to stealing police handcuffs but said his confession was extracted by force.

Foster spoke to CNN from Dubai, where he was arrested in late February. He is charged with theft of government property and possession of police equipment.

Foster was accused of stealing the handcuffs during questioning over possession of a bottle of wine, for which he was not charged. In fact, he says, he found the handcuffs at random in a parking lot.

When police found the handcuffs they arrested him and questioned him, and at that point beat him when he refused to confess, Foster said. He did not file a complaint over the beating or report it to U.S. officials while he was in prison due to fear that he would be beaten again if he did so, he added.

A Facebook campaign for Foster's release has led many hundreds of people to appeal to the UAE ambassador in America regarding his case.

In April, British citizen Lee Bradley Brown, 39, was arrested in Dubai over a fight in a hotel, and several days later, it was revealed that he had died. Witnesses told Brown's family that he had died after being severely beaten by police, then abandoned in a cell for days without medical care.

Dubai police denied the charges, saying Brown had not been beaten, and had no physical injuries when he died. He asphyxiated on vomit in his cell, they claimed.

The incident caused widespread concern for Western nationals in UAE prisons, and led officials from Britain, Australia and Canada to demand access to citizens of their countries who are in prison in Dubai.